Consistent Sensor, Relay, and Link Selection in Wireless Sensor Networks

In wireless sensor networks, where energy is scarce, it is inefficient to have all nodes active because they consume a non-negligible amount of battery. In this paper we consider the problem of jointly selecting sensors, relays and links in a wireless sensor network where the active sensors need to communicate their measurements to one or multiple access points. Information messages are routed stochastically in order to capture the inherent reliability of the broadcast links via multiple hops, where the nodes may be acting as sensors or as relays. We aim at finding optimal sparse solutions where both, the consistency between the selected subset of sensors, relays and links, and the graph connectivity in the selected subnetwork are guaranteed. Furthermore, active nodes should ensure a network performance in a parameter estimation scenario. Two problems are studied: sensor and link selection; and sensor, relay and link selection. To solve such problems, we present tractable optimization formulations and propose two algorithms that satisfy the previous network requirements. We also explore an extension scenario: only link selection. Simulation results show the performance of the algorithms and illustrate how they provide a sparse solution, which not only saves energy but also guarantees the network requirements.Comment: 27 pages, 17 figure

Nellie Campobello: memoria y escritura

Se analizó la novela Cartucho. Relatos de lalucha en el norte de México (1931), de Nellie Campobello. Se observó la relación existente entre laliteratura y los hechos históricos concernientes al conflicto revolucionario de1910. Se profundizó en el recurso de la memoria, medio por el cual la autora dacuenta de aquellos acontecimientos que vivió en su infancia, junto a su madre,en Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua. Finalmente, se determinó la importancia dellenguaje, en especial la voz infantil a la que recurre la narradora para daruna visión inocente, pero al mismo tiempo descarnada de la Revolución mexicana

Identifying effective actions to guide volunteer-based and nationwide conservation efforts for a ground-nesting farmland bird

Modern farming practices threaten wildlife in different ways, and failure to identify the complexity of multiple threats acting in synergy may result in ineffective management. To protect ground-nesting birds in farmland, monitoring and mitigating impacts of mechanical harvesting is crucial. Here, we use 6years of data from a nationwide volunteer-based monitoring scheme of the Montagu's harrier, a ground-nesting raptor, in French farmlands. We assess the effectiveness of alternative nest protection measures and map their potential benefit to the species. We show that unprotected nests in cultivated land are strongly negatively affected by harvesting and thus require active management. Further, we show that protection from harvesting alone (e.g. by leaving a small unharvested buffer around the nest) is impaired by post-harvest predation at nests that become highly conspicuous after harvest. Measures that simultaneously protect from harvesting and predation (by adding a fence around the nest) significantly enhance nest productivity. The map of expected gain from nest protection in relation to available volunteers' workforce pinpoints large areas of high expected gain from nest protection that are not matched by equally high workforce availability. This mismatch suggests that the impact of nest protection can be further improved by increasing volunteer efforts in key areas where they are low relative to the expected gain they could have.Synthesis and applications. This study shows that synergistic interplay of multiple factors (e.g. mechanical harvesting and predation) may completely undermine the success of well-intentioned conservation efforts. However, identifying areas where the greatest expected gains can be achieved relative to effort expended can minimize the risk of wasted volunteer actions. Overall, this study underscores the importance of citizen science for collecting large-scale data useful for producing science and ultimately informs large-scale evidence-based conservation actions within an adaptive management framework. This study shows that synergistic interplay of multiple factors (e.g. mechanical harvesting and predation) may completely undermine the success of well-intentioned conservation efforts. However, identifying areas where the greatest expected gains can be achieved relative to effort expended can minimize the risk of wasted volunteer actions. Overall, this study underscores the importance of citizen science for collecting large-scale data useful for producing science and ultimately informs large-scale evidence-based conservation actions within an adaptive management framework.Peer reviewe

Identifying effective actions to guide volunteer-based and nationwide conservation efforts for a ground-nesting farmland bird

Modern farming practices threaten wildlife in different ways, and failure to identify the complexity of multiple threats acting in synergy may result in ineffective management. To protect ground-nesting birds in farmland, monitoring and mitigating impacts of mechanical harvesting is crucial. Here, we use 6 years of data from a nationwide volunteer-based monitoring scheme of the Montagu's harrier, a ground-nesting raptor, in French farmlands. We assess the effectiveness of alternative nest protection measures and map their potential benefit to the species. We show that unprotected nests in cultivated land are strongly negatively affected by harvesting and thus require active management. Further, we show that protection from harvesting alone (e.g. by leaving a small unharvested buffer around the nest) is impaired by post-harvest predation at nests that become highly conspicuous after harvest. Measures that simultaneously protect from harvesting and predation (by adding a fence around the nest) significantly enhance nest productivity. The map of expected gain from nest protection in relation to available volunteers' workforce pinpoints large areas of high expected gain from nest protection that are not matched by equally high workforce availability. This mismatch suggests that the impact of nest protection can be further improved by increasing volunteer efforts in key areas where they are low relative to the expected gain they could have. Synthesis and applications. This study shows that synergistic interplay of multiple factors (e.g. mechanical harvesting and predation) may completely undermine the success of well-intentioned conservation efforts. However, identifying areas where the greatest expected gains can be achieved relative to effort expended can minimize the risk of wasted volunteer actions. Overall, this study underscores the importance of citizen science for collecting large-scale data useful for producing science and ultimately informs large-scale evidence-based conservation actions within an adaptive management framework. This study shows that synergistic interplay of multiple factors (e.g. mechanical harvesting and predation) may completely undermine the success of well-intentioned conservation efforts. However, identifying areas where the greatest expected gains can be achieved relative to effort expended can minimize the risk of wasted volunteer actions. Overall, this study underscores the importance of citizen science for collecting large-scale data useful for producing science and ultimately informs large-scale evidence-based conservation actions within an adaptive management framework.A.S. was supported by the Finnish School in Wildlife Biology, Conservation and Management (LUOVA) and by the Kone Foundation.Peer Reviewe

Two-loop critical mass for Wilson fermions

We have redone a recent two-loop computation of the critical mass for Wilson fermions in lattice QCD by evaluating Feynman integrals with the coordinate-space method. We present the results for different types of infrared regularization. We confirm both the previous numerical estimates and the power of the coordinate-space method whenever high accuracy is needed.Comment: 13 LaTeX2e pages, 2 ps figures include

Valoración de la empresa Segurtronic Ltda. a través del método de flujo de caja libre descontado 2012 - 2017

En el presente trabajo se hace una valoración a la empresa Segurtronic Ltda. Por el método de Flujo de Caja Libre Descontado, el cual consiste en calcular el valor presente de los futuros flujos de caja que la compañía está en capacidad de generar. Siendo este uno de los métodos más conocidos y usados para realizar la valoración de las empresas, se seleccionó como método de estudio pretendiendo establecer si la empresa es una inversión rentable y atractiva a sus actuales socios y si sería positivo para el Objetivo Básico Financiero hacer una nueva inversión de capital. Para el caso de Segurtronic Ltda. se tomó como base de datos para realizar la valoración, los estados financieros del periodo 2008 - 2011, haciendo sobre estos un análisis vertical y horizontal para conocer la realidad de la compañía y se utilizaron variables económicas como el PIB, el IPC y la DTF para proyectar el comportamiento de los estados financieros de los años 2012 - 2017, esto con el fin de analizar los resultados de la empresa en un escenario moderado, lo que permitirá establecer recomendaciones apropiadas a la proyección realizada.The following assignment presents a business valuation of the company Segurtronic Ltda through a discounted free cash flow method, which consists in calculating the present value of the future cash flows that the company will be able to generate. Being this one of the most known and used techniques for business valuation purposes, it was selected as the method of study attempting to establish whether the company is a profitable investment, attractive to its currents partners and whether it would be positive for the Financial Basic Objective to make a new capital investment. In the case of Segurtronic Ltda the financial statements for the periods 2008 through 2011 were used as database for its financial valuation purposes. Based on these statements, both horizontal and vertical analyses were performed in order to better understand the reality of the company. Furthermore, different economic variables such as GDP (Gross Domestic Product), CPI (Customer Price Index) and DTF were taken into account when projecting the behavior of the financial statements for the upcoming periods 2012 through 2017, all this in order to analyze the results of the company in a moderate scenario, which will set appropriate recommendations to the projection

From a conservation trap to a conservation solution: lessons from an intensively managed Montagu's harrier population

Many threatened species in human-dominated systems are managed through conservation programs. Such programs are sometimes designed based on intuition or short-term results rather than assessing their long-term biological and economic sustainability. The current conservation program for Montagu's harriers Circus pygargus, a ground-nesting bird of prey, in Lleida (Catalonia, NE Spain) aims to protect nests located in farmlands by promoting crop harvest delay around the nest and compensating farmers for their economic loss. This program has been flagged as a ‘conservation trap’ as its costs have been increasing over time, possibly compromising the long-term sustainability of the program and associated consequences to the local harrier population. In the present work, population viability analyses (PVA) were used to find a conservation management scenario that decreases the risk of the conservation trap, or at least minimizes the medium-term expenditure on conservation. PVA simulations suggest that the current nest protection program is financially unsustainable at the medium-term. Cost-effectiveness analyses suggest that it would be impossible to fully avoid the conservation trap if the conservation goal is to maintain Lleida's current population size. Alternative management scenarios that minimize the medium-term expenditure of scarce conservation funds are presented. The results suggest that selecting a conservation program based only on short-term biological or cost-effective targets might not be the most appropriate, and demonstrate the relevance of having clear medium-term conservation targets.A. S. was supported by a Kone Foundation grant.Peer Reviewe

An indicator of political diversity for analyzing their influence in shaping the local action groups leader in Spain

Between 1987 and 2013 Spain has implemented programs of rural development through the LEADER methodology, all of them led and managed by Local Action Groups (LAG). The influence of municipal governments within these GAL is a subject discussed from the beginning but lacks specificity in terms of quantitative data. . This paper identifies two indicators to measure patterns representing municipal governments. From these different situations of interest include the influence of the balance of political parties in the initial constitution of the LAG and its evolution over time, and the power of internal political negotiation of a LAG that the majority political party is faced with are analyzed the other political parties of the same LAG

Discursos del alumnado de Ciencias de la Salud de la Universidad de Sevilla vinculados con el género

La formación en género en el ámbito de los estudios universitarios ha demostrado ser no sólo necesaria si no un indicativo de calidad. Esta investigación se centra en el análisis del aprendizaje y la enseñanza en materia de género en la Facultad de Enfermería, Fisioterapia y Podología y sus centros adscritos de la Universidad de Sevilla. Se ha realizado un estudio con metodología cualitativa basado en la Teoría Fundamentada, en el que se han examinado los discursos del alumnado vinculados con el género. Los alumnos y alumnas que habían cursado la asignatura “Género y Salud” en Enfermería, entendían el género como un constructo cultural; el alumnado de Fisioterapia y Podología confundían sexo y género. En cuanto a su primer contacto con el género manifiestan que ha sido en la Universidad. La formación en género es una categoría transversal que produce un cuestionamiento personal, una deconstrucción social con una fundamentación teórica.Gender training in the field of university studies has proved to be not only necessary but also an indication of quality. This research focuses on the analysis of learning and teaching on gender in the Faculty of Nursing, Physiotherapy and Podiatry and its affiliated centers of the University of Seville. A study with qualitative methodology based on Grounded Theory has been carried out, in which discourses of students linked to gender have been examined. The students who had studied the subject "Gender and Health" in Nursing, understood gender as a cultural construct; Physiotherapy and Podology students confused sex and gender. Regarding his first contact with the genre, they state that he has been at the University. Gender training is a transversal category that produces a personal questioning, a social deconstruction with a theoretical foundation

Autophagy down regulates pro-inflammatory mediators in BV2 microglial cells and rescues both LPS and alpha-synuclein induced neuronal cell death

Autophagy is a fundamental cellular homeostatic mechanism, whereby cells autodigest parts of their cytoplasm for removal or turnover. Neurodegenerative disorders are associated with autophagy dysregulation, and drugs modulating autophagy have been successful in several animal models. Microglial cells are phagocytes in the central nervous system (CNS) that become activated in pathological conditions and determine the fate of other neural cells. Here, we studied the effects of autophagy on the production of pro-inflammatory molecules in microglial cells and their effects on neuronal cells. We observed that both trehalose and rapamycin activate autophagy in BV2 microglial cells and down-regulate the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide (NO), in response to LPS and alpha-synuclein. Autophagy also modulated the phosphorylation of p38 and ERK1/2 MAPKs in BV2 cells, which was required for NO production. These actions of autophagy modified the impact of microglial activation on neuronal cells, leading to suppression of neurotoxicity. Our results demonstrate a novel role for autophagy in the regulation of microglial cell activation and pro-inflammatory molecule secretion, which may be important for the control of inflammatory responses in the CNS and neurotoxicity.Fil: Bussi, Claudio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica; ArgentinaFil: Peralta Ramos, Javier María. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica; ArgentinaFil: Arroyo, Daniela Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica; ArgentinaFil: Gaviglio, Emilia Andrea. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica; ArgentinaFil: Gallea, Jose Ignacio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Química Biológica; ArgentinaFil: Wang, Ji Ming. National Cancer Institute at Frederick; Estados UnidosFil: Celej, Maria Soledad. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Centro de Investigaciones en Química Biológica de Córdoba; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Química Biológica; ArgentinaFil: Iribarren, Pablo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Córdoba. Facultad de Ciencias Químicas. Departamento de Bioquímica Clínica; Argentin